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April 26

Michael Todd's reburial

The Wikipedia article on Mike Todd claims that his remains were reburied in an undisclosed location following a grave robbery. However, the author of this article on Elizabeth Taylor and Todd's death told me that when he was doing research on the article, he called a cemetery attendant who denied that Todd's remains were ever moved to a secret location. I would trust the cemetery attendant, but haven't found anything online debunking that rumor, so I can't currently provide any references. How can I solve this mystery and set things right on the Wikipedia page?

Thanks.

--64.131.100.192 (talk) 20:07, 26 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  • The Mike Todd article cites this newspaper article for the information that the body was reburied in a secret location. Since the source you provided above indicates that this was not so, the best thing to do is to leave add the following sentance: "The Forest Park Review, some 34 years later, reported that his body was not moved to a secret location, and that such claims were only a rumor." and provide an inline cite to the article you cited. That way, we don't make any attempt to decide who is correct. Simply re-report what the reliable sources say, and leave it to the reader to make up their own mind. --Jayron32 20:26, 26 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]


April 27

Definitive Three Musketeers film version?

T3M has been featured in quite a few films! Is there one in particular that's held up above all others as a definitive treatment? Or do they all have their own shortcomings? The Masked Booby (talk) 02:01, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

As with many filmed versions of many novels, they all fall short in some fundemental way. Most of them preserve the basic framework of the story, and broadly adhere to the basic character types (poor farm boy goes to big city to join the Musketeers, and elite bodyguard of the King. Ends up getting stuck with a trio of nutty Musketeers each with their own personality quirks. Conflict with the Cardinal, missing crown jewels, love triangles, and hilarity ensue). Every movie version I have seen, however, plays pretty fast-and-loose with the plot details, so while they all agree in general terms with the plot of the book, they all take their own dramatic license in many areas. I would say to pick, say, a few versions from each era, and watch them all in short order to compare them. I've seen 3 or so myself, but never in close succession, but it may be a fun exercise! --Jayron32 03:08, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Speaking for myself, I'm inclined to go with the 1948 version (Lana Turner alone makes it worth watching), though the 1973 adaptation also has its merits. Clarityfiend (talk) 19:57, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

All a city's teams reaching their respective championships

The Blackhawks elimination from the playoffs last night and the Bulls games in their playoffs put this question into my head... Have all of a city's major sports teams all won their respective championships in the same year? I'm thinking US/Canada here but would be interested in other countries as well. As far as a definition for "major", I don't really have one but I'm pretty much thinking of baseball/hockey/(American) football/basketball for the US/Canada. And for the jokers, I'm also not counting cities that have only one major team (if there is one). Oh, and I don't have a solid definition in my head as to how I'd classify teams such as the New England Patriots since they don't have a named home city like the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers. Dismas|(talk) 12:03, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You could include Green Bay with Milwaukee and New England with Boston, as it's basically common fan bases. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots17:43, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
In 1980-81, all four Philadelphia teams reached their sport's finals: the Phillies won the 1980 World Series over the Kansas City Royals in baseball; the Eagles lost Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders (played in 1981, but the regular season was in 1980) in football; the 76ers lost the 1980 NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in basketball; and the Flyers lost the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Islanders in hockey. It hasn't happened since. --Xuxl (talk) 15:03, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It's safe to say it's never happened in Chicago! The last time the Cubs won the Series, the NHL, NFL and NBA didn't exist yet. Now, are you talking strictly professional, or are you bringing college football and basketball into it also? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots15:16, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The White Sox did win the 2005 World Series, but the other Chicago teams were not doing particularly well at the time. The 1917 White Sox Championship team predates the NFL and NBA, just like the Cubs' last winner. --Xuxl (talk) 16:15, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The OP's question seems to contradict the heading, as "reaching" the championship could mean "getting to" the Super Bowl, whereas the question indicates "winning it", so I'm going with that. I did some quick googling and didn't find anything. This is an interesting question, which could use some further definition. What's needed is a table with the years down the left side and the 4 major sports across the top. Once filled in, look for any year in which 2 or more teams won, which in itself would be interesting even if it's not an across-the-board sweep. It also gets complicated for seasons that cross years (which is 3 of the 4 sports now) and for cities that have 2 teams in the same sport, in which the OP's premise, taken literally, can't possibly happen. That is, the Mets and Yankees played the Series in 2000, but only one of them could win. If he re-cloaks it as the city winning a sports championship, then it could work. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots17:42, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
1986 was a pretty good calandar year for Boston teams: The New England Patriots lost Super Bowl XX to start the year, the Boston Celtics won the 1986 NBA Finals and the Boston Red Sox lost the 1986 World Series. Unfortunately, the Bruins got booted in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs that year, and would have to wait until 1988 to make the Cup Finals. But, not a bad run overall. --Jayron32 17:55, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Also a good year for the State of New York in 1994: The Buffalo Bills lose Super Bowl XXVIII, the New York Rangers win the Stanely Cup, and the New York Knicks lose the NBA Finals. Unfortunately there was no World Series that year; and geographically, Washington DC is closer to NYC than Buffalo is, but the State of New York put a team in every contested championship that year. --Jayron32 18:02, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
According to [1]:" New York City won all three (football, baseball, basketball) in 1969. The Jets beat the Colts for the Super Bowl. The Mets won the World Series. The Knicks won the NBA Finals." Quinn STARRY NIGHT 21:47, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It depends on how you measure these things:
In the fall of 1968 and into early 1969, the Jets won the Super Bowl. In the summer of 1969, the Mets won the World Series. In the NBA season of 1969-70, the Knicks won. (The Celtics had won in the springs of 1968 and 1969).
In the summer of 1927, the Yankees won the World Series. In the fall, the Giants won the NFL championship (it's debatable how "major" the NFL was at that point). In the winter of 1927-28, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. In the summer of 1928, the Yankees won the Series again.
Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots22:07, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In 1948, the Indians won the World Series, the Browns went 14-0 and won the All-America Football Conference and the Cleveland Barons won the American Hockey League's Calder Cup, which was a big deal when the NHL had only six teams. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 00:28, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Trying a non-US perspective, I looked up List of English football champions, List of official County Championship winners (cricket) and English Premiership (rugby union). Rugby Union has only had official champions since 1988, which makes the potential list shorter. The best bet would be London, but it seems the London Wasps never won the same year as both a London football club (Arsenal or Chelsea) and Surrey or Middlesex took the title. Looking earlier, randomly for example in 1954, there are London teams winning in both football and cricket, but IMO just two competitions isn't worth mentioning. I don't know if any Englishmen would suggest a different sport that should be looked at, things are far from as clear-cut as the US concept of four major pro sport leagues. /Coffeeshivers (talk) 19:01, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Rugby has a north/south divide in England. Rugby league dominates in the north, and Rugby union in the south, with hardly anywhere having decent teams in both codes. One city has won three of the four in the same season – Leeds in 1969 (Leeds United F.C., Leeds RLFC and Yorkshire CCC, who play most of their matches in Leeds). A quadruple is unthinkable. No rugby league champion has ever come from the midlands or south, and the rugby union title has only once been won by a northern team. Oldelpaso (talk) 17:48, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Unusual baseball feat

Last season a player for the San Francisco Giants, Darren Ford, scored a run in a major league game before ever having an official plate appearance. He was inserted into the game as a pinch runner and ended up scoring the game-winning run. I've been searching without success for other times this has happened in the majors. Are there any web sites that track this sort of statistic? Hemoroid Agastordoff (talk) 16:10, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It's more common than you think, as a lot of players get their first taste of action as a pinch-runner. Here are a few examples off the top of my head of players who scored their first run before getting their first plate appearance: Tim Raines [2]; Al Newman [3]; Jay Loviglio [4], Don Hopkins [5] and Mel Kerr [6]. Of course, the absolute champion in Herb Washington[7], baseball's only full-time pinch-runner, who never had a plate appearance or played the field in his two-year career, but scored 33 runs and stole 31 bases. I'm not sure how you could find a full list however. --Xuxl (talk) 17:29, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Here's Retrosheet's record for Darren Ford:[8] Knowing already what he did, it's easy to track down on the daily listings, as he was strictly a pinch runner in all but one game. But it's not evident to me, offhand, how one would track down all such occurrences, without downloading the entire database and doing some programming. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots17:54, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]


April 28

Name of a children's short and the artist who appears

I can't remember if this short is on Disney Playhouse, Treehouse or another channel. Anyway, it is a female singer dressed as a conductor on a train. I have seen two shorts where she sings a jazzed up version of the alphabet song and another one about animals. There are also children in the show who are passengers. Can anyone tell me the name of the show and who the artist is? Thanks 99.250.117.26 (talk) 00:35, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See Choo-Choo Soul. The article will answer all of your questions. Having a 2 and a 5 year old helps answer questions like this. --Jayron32 01:03, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]


Thanks! 99.250.117.26 (talk) 01:58, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

howcan we save nature

methods to save nature

Click the little floppy disk icon in the toolbar?--Jayron32 20:49, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Eco-running. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:56, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Nature will take care of itself. It's we who need saving, from our own follies. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots05:22, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
In most ways, over the long term, "nature will take care of itself", yes. However, there are some ways humans can make a lasting impact. For example, large species driven to extinction by humans aren't likely to reappear anytime soon. Although, I suppose, if people drive polar bears to extinction, then, perhaps millions of years after humans become extinct, other species of surviving bears may spawn something similar to the polar bear again. StuRat (talk) 07:07, 29 April 2011 (UTC) [reply]
It should be noted though that species were going extinct without human intervention for eons. Googlemeister (talk) 13:33, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
There is what I call a "conceit" that humans are responsible for global warming, and by extension, any consequences of it. There's no question that global warming is going on, but proving that it's humans causing it is kind of slippery. There's no question that humans are directly responsible for the extinction of a number of species. We may even have been responsible for the extinction of Neanderthal Man. But does that really matter to "nature"? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots16:01, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
We know how much of each greenhouse gas we add to the air, we can measure the increase in concentration in the air each year, and this corresponds well with the observed global warming. So what's unclear about it, exactly ? StuRat (talk) 09:38, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
6th Extinction. Animal species are dying out at a rate way higher than they typically do without human intervention. Buddy431 (talk) 22:50, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
That's more of the "conceit". We can't say for sure what the extinction rate was a few hundred years ago. We just keep better track of it now. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots06:24, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Bugs, people have good ways of estimating the extinction rates: see Background extinction rate. Look at some of the references: estimating background extinction rate is a serious area of research. It is not just environmentalists pulling numbers out of their asses to support their assertions. If you're going to comment about a subjects, please make at least a cursory read through of the sources on the subject. Buddy431 (talk) 13:57, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Humans have an extremely inflated view of their impact on things. The dinosaurs got wiped out without any help from us. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots15:05, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Right, an Extinction event, which is, by definition, a period where the extinction rate is very much higher than the background extinction rate. We are currently in an extinction event right now. That doesn't validate your claim that people can't accurately measure the prehistorical extinction rate, or invalidate my claim that they can. Buddy431 (talk) 15:33, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
We are much better at record keeping now. There's no way we can know what the true extinction rate was, 500 years ago. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots02:47, 1 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Do I have to say this again? Cite Your Sources! I've already cited our article that suggests that humans can accurately estimate historic and prehistoric baseline extinction rates. Do you have any evidence to back up your point of view? Buddy431 (talk) 18:36, 1 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
This is where the "religion" aspect of science comes into it: Decide on the (politically-driven) conclusion, and figure out how to make the conclusion seem "scientific". P.S. What is the original question doing in the "entertainment" desk anyway? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots01:27, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, the "Rates of Extinction in Marine Invertebrates: Further Comparison Between Background and Mass Extinctions" sure looks like a political hack piece, as does the more recent "Dynamics of Origination and Extinction in the Marine Fossil Record". I mean come on, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is clearly trying to falsify the extinction record for their personal gain. How do we even know that the Permian–Triassic extinction event isn't just some hoax cooked up sadistic scientists in their further attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of us commoners. There's no way to even verify these extinctions: it's not like there's any remains from these long-extinct species. Buddy431 (talk) 01:51, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Considering the rarity of something becoming fossilized, a lot of extrapolation is needed for these estimates, and just because a scientist is doing the extrapolating, does not make it accurate. More likely to be accurate perhaps, but by no means a sure thing. Googlemeister (talk) 19:33, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Good points. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots22:22, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Why is Cthulhu so scary?

I briefly glanced at the Wikipedia article about Cthulhu, and got to thinking what exactly is it that makes all these slimy tentacle monsters so scary. Are they dangerous? Do they kill people? Or are they scary just because they're weird? JIP | Talk 18:51, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

From Cthulhu Mythos#Theme: "Because of the limitations of the human mind, these deities appear as so overwhelming that they can often drive a person insane." Humans are like ants to them; they could thoughtlessly slay us all with a passing thought and never realize what they had done. Cthulhu stories are usually very vague about the Old Ones themselves and they say things like "And then I finally drew into view of it ... and then I woke up and it was several hours later." They are too dreadful for us to grok, you see. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:54, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Steve Hackett/Genesis

Did Steve Hackett ever sing live backing vocals for Genesis? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.107.86.216 (talk) 19:02, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I've gone through half a dozen old Genesis videos on YouTube and in each one, Steve Hackett never has a mic stand in front of him; the only people who have microphones are Peter Gabriel (lead) and Phil Collins (backing). He's usually seated, hunched over his guitar with his hair in his face. That, of course, doesn't mean he never sang, since I have not watched footage of every single Genesis live performance, but it does not appear that he did so normally. --Jayron32 20:31, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I saw them live in 1978, but truly can't remember seeing or hearing Steve Hackett singing. The only song it might have been in was "Trick of the Tail", but to be honest I was too busy watching the screen at the time... I've had a poke around Hackett's website and couldn't find any reference. --TammyMoet (talk) 20:41, 28 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

April 29

Broadway cast version recording

Please note I'm not using this site as a crystal ball or anything like that. But by any chance, might there be Broadway cast version recording of Sister Act (musical)?24.90.204.234 (talk) 06:52, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

A quick Google search shows that there is a London cast album available. Since the Broadway version only opened on April 20, 2011, a Broadway cast recording is probably still in production. More information can be found in our article --Thomprod (talk) 15:31, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

baseball ejection question

If a player is ejected from the game while he is a baserunner (say he argued with the umpire about a balk that did not get called), does he count as an out? Googlemeister (talk) 14:03, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No. He may be replaced by a pinch-runner. Newyorkbrad (talk) 14:09, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Not only may be, but must be. With one extremely rare exception: If there is no one left on the bench, then the team would be unable to field a team of 9 players, and would forfeit the game. I've never heard of that happening in professional baseball, but in baseball almost anything is possible. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots15:57, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
If your team is already up to the 16th ejection of the game, perhaps you should have quit a LONG time ago... --Jayron32 16:04, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It could be the 25th inning and you might have already used everyone up on the roster for pinch-hitting, pinch-running and relief pitching, without a single ejection. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots16:13, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
At which point, you're entire team is probably tired enough to take the loss and get a good night's sleep... --Jayron32 19:05, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Very long games are sometimes carried into the next day. One game that comes to mind where they did that was one which exceeded 30 innings in AAA, but I don't remember the teams. Googlemeister (talk) 19:35, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It was This game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings (Orioles). It was 33 innings, and featured several future long-time major leaguers, as well as two future Hall of Famers, Cal Ripkin Jr. and Wade Boggs. --Jayron32 19:59, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Very entertaining article. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:25, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
That game, not surprisingly, ended quickly when they resumed play a couple days later, with everyone rested and refreshed. It doesn't always work that way, though. One night in 1984 the Brewers and the Sox played 17 innings. They resumed the next day and played 8 more innings before finally getting a decision... then they played their regularly-scheduled game. In 1974, the Cardinals and the Mets played a 25-inning game all the way through the evening, finishing in the wee hours. Perhaps the most remarkable was the 26-inning 1-1 tied game of 1920 between the Dodgers and the Braves. The game was called on account of darkness. The game's elapsed time was only 3 hours and 50 minutes... and the starting pitchers both pitched for all 26 innings. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots00:24, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Vusi Mahlesela, African musicisn

Your article preface asks for additional information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.166.123.236 (talk) 15:39, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That's right. Do you have a question for the reference desk?--Shantavira|feed me 16:15, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia is created by volunteers who add information to it every day. If you would like to contribute to that article, you may do so. Wikipedia:Tutorial can help you understand how to get started. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:22, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Where could I find the recent broadcast of the Royal Wedding on TLC to download

Or if necessary, somewhere to watch it in browser. My wife was hoping to watch it but our DVR failed us for some reason. ANy method at all where you could find it would be appreciated. Thanks! 24.74.94.33 (talk) 20:14, 29 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you don't require the TLC broadcast, you can watch it on Youtube [9] Nil Einne (talk) 00:43, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

April 30

RADIO PLAY

I'am from N.Y.C. IN THE Bronx. i want to know. how can someone can get their music play on the college radio? Hip Hop. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Santosharden (talkcontribs) 13:53, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

College radio is much more open, in general, than commercial radio stations are. Commercial radio station programming is very restrictive, and access is basically limited to stuff that the radio stations get from the record companies. However, college radio stations are very free-and-loose with their programming, and will generally play just about anything; especially local acts. What you need to do is contact the college station directly, and ask them directly. You may have some success if you are any good. --Jayron32 19:52, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Cars in Munich film

Which cars were used in the film Munich? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.33.75 (talk) 17:00, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The Internet Movie Cars Database is your friend. —Kevin Myers 19:15, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Song identification (requires iPlayer - probably UK-only?)

Can anyone recognize the song starting at 1:51 in last week's Doctor Who Confidential? Thanks :-) 131.111.255.9 (talk) 20:46, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

May 1

In the television western series, The Virginian, the did the man known as The Virginian played by James Drury, have an actual name? I used to watch this regularly as a kid, and I don't remember anyone calling him anything other than Virginian.--Jeanne Boleyn (talk) 15:14, 1 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See the second sentence in The Virginian (TV series)#Seasons one through eight. Deor (talk) 16:22, 1 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

May 2

Name request

Asking for a third time. I watched this movie quite long time ago (in the late 1990s or most probably early 2000s). I can't remember clearly because I was a child at the time I saw it. Plot revolves around the relationship between a wife and husband. The wife's boss asked her (most probably inside an airplane as far I remember) to sleep with him, which she accepted. Later the wife admitted to her husband that she slept with her boss. After she told him that she was approached by her boss, the husband tells: "What did you say?" and repeating the question again and again, and the wife replies that she accepted the offer. The husband then expresses sorrow.

In a later scene, the husband accidentally hit the wife and laments, and the wife says I love you. I clearly remember this scene. I want to watch the movie again. PLEASE HELP!!! --Voulgdoerle (talk) 01:30, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Action comics #900

Superman renounces US citizenship. Where does that leave Clark Kent? 76.27.175.80 (talk) 01:48, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]